Film-cleaning apparatus



May 8, 1923.

M. COHEN FILM CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 7

\\M4X WEL COHEN By 4 TTOR/VEYS WITNESSES Patented May 8, 1923.

uNl'rsogsrArss PAT-Ear ama MAxWELL'ooEEn, or BRooKLYN; n'nw Yuan,- Assrenon TOjAMERICAN FILM CLEANING'MAGHINECOMPANY, or BROOKLYN, NE YORK,- A- coranruna SHIP coMrosnn or MAXWELL COHENVHENTRY LEVY; AND -iusxwnm.

WEINBERG;

FILM-CLEANING APPARATUS.

' Application filed February 7, 1921. rSeriaI. No. 4413,0 23. I i

To all whom it may conoem:

Be it known that I MAXWELL COHE a citizen of the United states, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved F ilm-Cleaning Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning films and particularly for. cleanin moving picture'- films.

The object in view is to provide an apparatus which will clean both sides of a moving picture film in an eflicient manner without injuring the film in any way and at a minimum cost. t v

Another object in view is to provide an apparatus which will gently washthe sensitized side of the film and will polish the opposite side so as to produce a thorough cleaning action thereon. v i V A still further object of the-invention is to provide an apparatus formed with means for thoroughly washing with a general washing action the sensitized side of a moving picture film and then polishing the unsensi: tized side of the film. 1

In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical vsection through Figure 2 online 11. Figure2 is a top plan view of a film'cleaning apparatus. disclosing an embodiment of the invention, the cover being removed.

Referring to the accompanyingudrawing by numerals, 1 indicates a container'having a cover 2 hinged thereto in any desired manner. The container 2 is preferably provided with one or more lugs. 8 so .that when the cover 2 is hinged to aniopen position it may rest on these lugs in a convenient manner. I

Preferably, a bracket 4 is connected to the container 1 or it could be made independent and fixed in position. The bracket 4: carries certain members foroperating on the film as hereinafter fully described, said operation taking place after the film has passed through the container 1 7 p r As indicated in Figure: l the-covert is provided" with openings 5 and 6 registering with openings 7 and 8 so as to-provide entrance and exit openings for the film 9. The cover 2, in the openings5 and 6, carries guiding rollers 10and11 co-act guiding rollers 12 and 13in openings 7 and 8. As the film Slpasses and 12 it, moves overa sprocket orvfeeding v roller 14 of the usual type used in moving picture films. The roller or sprocket 14; is

connected with a shaft 15 which in turn is rigidly secured to a gear wheel 24; The

through rollerslQ v I shaft 15is journaled inany suitable manner in the container 1 while a. gear wheel24is arranged in the compartment 17 which is separated by a partition wall 18 and a compartment 19. a cleaning solution which may be of various kinds accordingto the desire-of the operator The compartment l): carries but preferably a chemical is used which will a provide a'quick and thorough; cleaningoof for cleaning whenzusing thepresent rapp'a-t ratus asit will produce the desired cleaning action and will quickly evaporate oil of the film .afterthe' film has left the container; The film 9 extends fromroller 14 in a loop 20 to a sprocket orroller 21 which -pulls the film and forces the same toward the rol-lers the film without injuring the'sensitive coat- I ing ofthe body of tliefilm. vCarbon-tetrachloride has been foundtobe very desirable 11 and 13. A clamping roller 22 is mounted h to hold the film 9 against the roller 14:, said clamping muerbeing of e usualitype of rollers now in common use whereby it'will not 1n ure in anyway the sensitive matter on a film while holdingthe teethofthe sprocket 14 in proper engagement with the film The;

roller 22 is rotatably mountedvon a pivotally mounted support 23 which support is pro-' vided witha squared section '24 against which the spring 25 presses. said spring be ingrigidly clamped to a suitable supporting lug 26 by aset screw or other suitable means.

in Figure l the spring acts to hold the sup When the parts are inthe position shown port 23 and roller 22 in operative position. When itis desired to remove the film 9 from the roller or sprocket 145 the'handie 27 is pulled to "the leftigure l until the spring 25 engages the support 23 at point 2 8 ',This will cause the -roller'22 V to be swungaway from therollerv or sprocket spring% holdsthe roller both in an operative and. also in an inoperatives'position.

[24; and be? heldoin a new position by the The gear wheel 24 is arranged to mesh With the gear wheel 29, which gear wheel is an idler though intended to transmit power from the master gear 30 to the gear wheel 24. Preferably, the gear wheels 30 and 24 are of the same size so that they will operate: at the same speed. A second-idler 31 meshes with the master gear 30 and also with a gear 32 rigidly secured to shaft 33 to which the roller or sprocket wheel 34 is rigidly secured. Gear wheels 24, 30 and 32 are of thesame size so that they all rotate at the same speed whereby the film is moved out of the container at the same speed that it is moved into the container. A gear wheel 30 is keyed to the shaft 35 to which the pulley 36 is also keyed. This shaft, however, is keyed to these two members and also to the hub 37 of the scrubbing member 38 in'such a manner that it may he slid or moved longitudinally by a pull or push on the thumb member 39. For instance, whenever any of the felt scrubbing members 40 needs renewing, thumb memher 39' is pulled until the shaft 35 has been disengaged from the hub 37 and then said hub with its scrubbing members is removed and a new one substituted and the shaft 35 again moved back to the position shown in Figure 2. The scrubbing members may be of any desired material, asforinstance, felt and is adapted to wipe against the sensitized side of the film as the loop engages the roller 41 the movement ofmember '40 being in an opposite direction to the movement of the film. This roller is an ordinary smooth roller rotatably supported on ashaft 42 and is-provided with a flange at each end for guiding the film.v The felt scrubbing members 40 are, of course, saturated with the liquid 43 and rubs gently against the sensitized side of the film and presses the film against the roller 41. During this action the film would be pulled toward the sprocket or roller 21 and, consequently, there will be a rubbing action which action will thoroughly clean the sensitized side of the film without injury as the contact of the felt members 40 is very slight. Roller 21 is provided with a clampingroller 44 similar to roller 22 and is supported by suitable supports 45, said supports and associated parts being identical with the support of roller 22 but acting in the opposite direction.

After the film leaves the roller 21 it passes between squeezing rollers 46 and 47 which may be made of any suitable material as for instance, soft rubber. If desired, the roller 47 could be made of some hard substance as metal or roller 46 couldbe made of rubber or other soft material. The object of providing these rollers is to squeeze excess liquid from the film before it passes out of the container 1. After it passes out of the container 1 it moves in between the rollers 48 and 49 and from thence between other rollers 50 and 51 similar to rollers 48' and 49. The rollers 49 and 51 are formed from felt or other cleaning and polishing material which cleans and polishes the back or rear face of the filmwhilev the front face carryin the sensitized material passes beneath tie recessed portions 52 of rollers 48 and 50 without contacting with these rollers though the edges of the film carrying the apertures remains in engagement with these rollers. The rollers 49- and 5-1 rotate at a speed whereby their peripheral speed will be greater than the speed of movement of the film. This arrangement causes'the rollers to produce a friction against the film which will not only clean the film but also generate a certain amount of heat which heat helps to quickly drive off any remaining particles of the washing solution 43.

As shown in Figure 2 rollers 49 and 51 and 32 are rotated. As the gear 32 rotates it drives shaft 33' and, consequently, power is transmitted through the belts'59 and 57 to the cleaning rollers 49 and 51. The rollers '48 and 50 are idlers and act merely to hold the film in position against rollers 49 and 50.

In operation, after the film has been properly fitted into the apparatus as shown in Figur 1, power is applied to the belt 61 and the film 9 will be automatically moved into the apparatus, cleaned and then moved out so that when it leaves the rollers 50 and 51 it will be clean on both sides and, sufficiently dry for winding on an ordinary reel. The cleaning operation may be carried on at a compar'atively high speed so that a given length of film may be cleaned in a minimum time and ata minimum cost without danger of injuringthe same;

What I claim is 1. In a film cleaning, apparatus, a tank.

adapted tocontain a cleaning liquid, a revoluble scrubber mounted in the tank and having spaced flexible scrubbing strips, feeding devices in the tank at opposite sides of thescrubber, saidgfeeding devices themselves feeding the film through the tank in loop formation, with the loop depending into the liquid below the scrubber, and a smooth roller below one of the feeding devices, and against which the film is pressed by the flexible scrubbing strips of the scrubber.

2. A cleaning apparatus for moving pic'- ture films, comprising a tank adapted to contain a cleaning liquid, a revoluble scrubbing member mounted in the tank and having a plurality of felt strips, means for moving the film through the tank, said means itself causing the film to form a loop depending into the liquid below the scrubbing member, a smooth roller mounted in the tank adjacent one end thereof and upon which the film is pressed by the felt strips of the scrubbing member to scrub the film as it passes through the tank, a pair of squeezing rollers for squeezing the film as it passes from the tank, and drying means exterior of the tank for drying and polishing the unsensitized side of the film.

3. A film cleaning apparatus comprising a tank adapted to receive a cleaning fluid which readily evaporates when finely divided, means for passing a film through said tank, said means causing the film to assume a looped formation in the tank with the loop submerged in said fluid, a smooth and flanged roller arranged adjacent said film while in said tank, a movable scrubbing member of felt adapted to engage the opposite side of said film to that engaging the flanged roller for scrubbing the same, said scrubbing member pressing the film against said flanged roller, and means arranged exteriorly of the tank for cleaning the opposite side of said film to that engaged by said scrubbing member.

. 4. A film cleaning apparatus, comprising a tank adapted to contain a cleaning liquid, means for feeding a film through the tank, means in the tank for cleaning the front sensitized side of the film, and means out- MAXWELL COHEN. 

